


Speaking Earnestly

by morrysillusion



Category: Acceleracers, Hot Wheels (Movies), Hot Wheels: Acceleracers
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:55:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24578635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morrysillusion/pseuds/morrysillusion
Summary: After Vert silently dips from Tezla's base, Kurt takes notice and decides to figure out why Vert felt the need to leave without notifying anyone.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 17





	Speaking Earnestly

**Author's Note:**

> been a while. wrote this at first in November 2019 and decided to finish it properly... hoping to write some more stuff too. This isn't intended to be shippy but it can be interpreted that way.

While Kurt’s eyes ached from staring ahead at the road for so many hours, he knew exactly where Vert was at this hour and he made a beeline for his location. Everyone else seemed to accept that he just disappeared for the moment, but out of them all Kurt knew something more was up. He knew Vert wouldn’t just drop out of the race like this without saying something. If anything it was nice to ride away from the canyons and wild race tracks, back to the familiar city of Los Angeles, even if not for the best reasons. It was well into 3AM but Kurt knew Vert was very likely down in the river racing into the morning- before they got into all this stuff with Tezla again, it was a common pastime for Vert when he wanted alone time. He didn’t know what was going through Vert’s head right now, but he knew that’s what he did. Taking a turn onto 26th street, the wide concrete river came into view. Kurt turned into a small dirt path leading to the ramp that led to the bottom of the river. Carefully, but with high speed, his car swiftly drove onto the vast cement space. This was a long river, but he was sure at this hour Vert was still driving down from one end to the other. Kurt would run into him from one of those directions, he was sure.

His car drove with ease on the flat surface, kicking up small bits of gravel or trash that had fallen into the river. He kept at a decent speed until he saw a narrow beam of headlights, coming in his direction. It seemed Vert was on his motorcycle, heading towards him. Kurt slowed but Vert sped past him, causing a shake in the air as he went by. Kurt hit his brakes and started to turn his car around, but he saw a way behind him that Vert had slowed to a stop. He drove his car up at a low speed, approaching the motorcycle on the right side. Both engines held a low growl as they stood still in the dark.

Kurt rolled down his window, and before he could say anything, Vert spoke up first. “Why did you come find me?”

It surprised Kurt that Vert was so intent on being left alone, that he was surprised anyone sought him out when he left- it just didn’t seem like him at all. Kurt was silent for a moment as concern settled on his face. “What is going on? Why did you leave?”

Vert settled both his feet on the ground and turned off the engine to his vehicle. Kurt did the same and got out of the Slingshot. Both of their headlights were off now, probably the best option as they really didn’t want to be spotted down here while they talked. The air was incredibly still, and the silent, cold night felt more suffocating as the two faced each other. It was dark, but warm streetlights bounced off the surfaces and vaguely illuminated their faces from different angles.

“I don’t think I need to be there right now. There’s too much going on, I’ll be in the way.”

Kurt tried not to be mildly annoyed with his vague response, he truly wanted to understand, he cared about Vert. “Too much? Vert-- you pressed through the World Race before, you were just fine racing in there. How can this be too much? When have you ever gotten in the way?”

Vert cringed at his friend’s harsh tone. “It’s not the same, that’s not the same at all. That was just...good luck. This? This has all been awful. I don’t need to be there right now, or at all.” Vert paced from the front of his cycle to the other end. He knew he was holding back on his feelings, he couldn’t blame Kurt for being frustrated.

Kurt stared him down in disbelief. He was shocked to see his friend had lost all self confidence like this. “...Vert.” There was a pause as he looked away. “There is a lot going on right now, and we can’t lose you like this. I came here to find you because I want you there with us. You can drive, and we need all the drivers we can get over there!”

Silence hung in the air again and the tension remained. There was something still lingering and Vert had to say it. “There's no use of me driving on those tracks--” his words came out like a built up burst of frustration, motioning at himself clearly with his hands, “--not when my skills are so useless to all of this! I haven’t done [i]anything[/i] good for Tezla or the races so far. I’ve been reckless, and I haven’t learned anything. Every other person on both teams are so much older and more experienced than I am.”

Kurt stood without saying a word as Vert spilled out his thoughts. He continued, “I left because it's clear to me I need to get my shit straight if I want my presence to matter at all... I might as well go make some use of myself by getting better at driving. I didn’t need any of you to notice I left.”

As if all his energy was contained in his rant, Vert’s shoulder slumped after his speech and he turned away with a tired sigh. It was strange to finally say it out loud, that he had been feeling this way for a while. Kurt too felt like the tension suddenly dropped from the scene and allowed himself to relax a little as well, after taking in all his friend’s woes. He was aware Vert had some issues in the past with how people looked down on him during the World Race, but with how well things seemed to be going after that, Kurt hadn’t expected it to build up to all this.

“Shit.” Kurt’s voice broke the air as he stepped up to confront Vert’s insecurities. “Vert, you’re a great driver. And even if you weren’t, even if you weren’t perfect, or you were still learning- it wouldn’t change the fact that we want you [i]with[/i] us. If you want help, or if you want to get better, you should do it by our side because we are your friends.”

Kurt's eyes were locked with Vert’s, and he squeezed a hand over the blonde’s shoulder. It wasn’t often Kurt found himself speaking this like but he felt he needed to be sincere to get his point across. Even if his other teammates weren’t here, Kurt himself cared enough to make sure Vert knew he mattered. He was quiet as he stared at Kurt. Vert’s heart was pounding in his chest and his head felt light- the words kurt laid down before him twisted and tangled with his thoughts. It’s like they were fighting and strangling the negative ideas he had been simmering in for so long. Kurt’s expression softened at Vert’s continued silence, as Vert was practically staring through him as he processed his thoughts.

The man in front of Kurt shifted his gaze and looked up at him, his blue eyes dull and his brows furrowed in worry at his realization. “Really?” The word slipped out weakly. There was a little smile. Vert sat down on the seat of his motorcycle.

It did hurt Kurt to see how hard it was for Vert to drop those negative thoughts from his mind. He settled down to a kneel so he could look up at the blonde, and let his hand linger to Vert’s. “Yes, of course.” He spoke as earnestly as he could.

There was a light chuckle, likely from Vert realizing his own disbelief over his own thoughts. Of course he had friends. And friends are supposed to care, friends do that. Why did he hate himself so much right now? When he had someone like Kurt right in front of him, when his friends were so unlikely to reducible him for his supposed mess-ups? Ridiculous, Vert knew that now. Though these ideas did not just vanish at that realization, Kurt was able to break through that barrier and give his friend the real truth he needed to hear. A smile on Kurt’s lips in knowing the mood had shifted now. He knew it didn’t cure anything exactly, but Vert knew something important: Kurt cared, he was a friend who’d be there for him.

The late night finally felt freeing, as it normally would on any other night. The two appreciated each other in the cold, silent, dark of Los Angeles. It felt open, and accepting. They didn’t really need to say anymore to each other at this point, they mutually recognized their feelings. They had made the strength of their friendship clear.


End file.
